


i can't grow without you anymore

by ecv-197 (lazyfish)



Category: The Orville (TV)
Genre: Domesticity, Established Relationship, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-27 14:49:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18195677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazyfish/pseuds/ecv-197
Summary: Ed and Kelly have dinner together and talk about the marks they've made on each other.





	i can't grow without you anymore

When Kelly strolled into Ed’s quarters just past 1800 hours, he was already putting dinner on the table. The pasta was steaming hot, like it had just come out of the synth, and Kelly narrowed her eyes at him.

“You knew I was going to be late.” It was a statement, not a question.

Ed looked up from the pasta, cocking his head to the side. “Yeah. Yeah, I did.” He went back to the synth and ordered a basket of garlic bread before facing Kelly again. “You have this habit of wanting to make people feel better when they’re sad.” He set the basket down on the table before leaning across it to peck her lips. “Dinner can wait. Comforting Gordon, not so much.” Ed paused. “Probably should’ve been me, but…”

“But you and Gordon have met your quota of one emotional conversation per year. I know.” The corners of Kelly’s mouth quirked up. She slid into her seat, gesturing for Ed to do the same before stripping off her uniform jacket and hanging it on the back of her chair.

“So, what did you tell him?” Ed asked, reaching for a piece of garlic bread. He tore it in half, and proceeded to shove half of it in his mouth. “If you can tell me, that is,” he said around the mouthful of bread.

Kelly twirled pasta on her fork, carefully weighing her words. “Just that we’re the sum of the people we love, really. There are quirks that we have just because we knew someone else.” She smirked at her ex-husband. “I showed him the eye thing.”

Ed snorted. “The eye thing? Really?”

“It was either the eye thing or -”

“Nope, the eye thing was definitely the way to go.” Ed shuddered. “I need brain bleach to get rid of thinking of him seeing the other thing.”

Kelly stretched back in her seat, still smirking. “That’s just for you, promise.” Ed smiled to himself, pleased, as he finished eating his bread and began working on the pasta. Kelly followed suit, though she was much neater with her eating than Ed was. That wasn’t anything new, though.

They were silent for the next few minutes - Ed because he was thinking, and Kelly because she was letting him. He’d come out of his head when he was ready. He always did.

“I keep wondering if I should’ve done something better. I mean, Gordon’s my best friend and I didn’t even realize he wanted something like that, you know?”

Kelly put her fork down, reaching across the table to grab Ed’s hand. “I understand what you’re saying, but it’s not your fault. Seemed to me like _he_ didn’t even know he wanted something like that. Long term, committed, the whole shebang.” Kelly squeezed Ed’s hand. “And, no offense, but you’re not exactly the first person I’d come to for romantic advice.”

“Hey!”

“Isn’t it enough that I come to you for other romantic things?”

“It is, and I love you.” Ed swiped his thumb across Kelly’s knuckles. “But way to kick a guy when he’s down, Kel.”

“Sorry.” Kelly gave looking contrite her best effort, then withdrew her hand so she could go back to eating her pasta.

“I was thinking maybe I should tell Gordon about us.” That gave Kelly pause, but other than her pausing, she didn’t give any indication as to what she thought of the idea. “I mean, Gordon thinks that my last romantic tryst was with someone who turned out to be a Krill, so maybe that’s why he’s not coming to me with these things?”

“Like your ex-wife would be much better,” Kelly muttered.

“He doesn’t know about Darulio -”

“I don’t _want_ him to know about Darulio!” Kelly’s fork hit the plate with a clang. “Frankly, I don’t want anyone to know that our marriage probably ended because some stupid alien hormones made it so I couldn’t keep it in my pants. It’s - it’s embarrassing! And humiliating! And -”

“Kel.” Ed’s voice was gentle as he cut off her tirade. “I don’t have to tell him that part. I don’t have to tell him anything, if you don’t want me to.”

“I’m not going to tell you you can’t tell your best friend about our relationship, Ed.” Kelly sighed and picked her fork back up again, but didn’t resume eating. “It’s probably overdue.”

Ed nudged Kelly’s foot under the table, just hard enough that she looked up at him. “I’m sorry I brought him up.”

“It’s fine.” She looked back down at her plate.

“Don’t bullshit me, Kel.” Ed reached for her hand again, and Kelly reached back automatically. “I’m sure whatever you told Gordon about us being made of all our relationships was poetic and everything, but I’m pretty sure you left something out.” He cleared his throat. “We get to choose those relationships. He chose to keep going back to the simulation, and I made the much better, healthier, not-at-all-related decision to keep coming back to you.”

Kelly cracked a smile. “Thanks.”

“You’re worth coming back to.” Kelly looked up at him just in time to see him grin in the way that made her insides turn to goo. She couldn’t help but lean across the table to capture his lips in a kiss, and she couldn’t help but laugh when Ed’s eagerness to return the kiss resulted in the bread basket falling to the floor.

“Back to Gordon,” Kelly said as she picked up the fallen basket. “Tell him. Seriously.”

“He’ll tell John.”

“I know.”

“And Talla.”

“I know.”

“And hell, probably Bortus, too.”

“I _know_ , Ed.” Kelly didn’t bother hiding the fondness in her eyes when she looked at him. “I think you’re forgetting that I spent four years practically married to Gordon.”

“Being married to me is not being practically married to Gordon!” Ed spluttered.

“Isn’t it?” Kelly teased.

“Well you didn’t show him -”

“That can change.” Kelly raised an eyebrow, daring Ed to defy her. Because he was an intelligent man, he didn’t try.

They finished the rest of their dinner with minimal conversation, including a brief detour into Bortus and Klyden’s unfortunate addiction and the resulting scientific paper Claire was going to write on it. Kelly thought they were going to dip into the murky waters that was Claire and Isaac’s relationship (or lack thereof), but they managed to steer clear of it. One complicated relationship was enough for them, and Kelly doubted Claire wanted anyone speculating about the future of her relationship with the Kaylon.

“What do you say to you, me, an old Earth flick, and two glasses of vino?” Ed asked as he cleared their dinner plates away.

“Counter-offer: you, me, and pretending to watch an old Earth flick. Our mouths may or may not be too busy to enjoy drinking wine.” Kelly’s eyes sparkled when she looked at Ed.

“Counter-offer accepted.”

Kelly made it to the sofa first, and began flicking through the selection of Earth films they had access to. It didn’t matter which one they picked, since they weren’t actually going to watch it, but she needed to make at least a cursory effort.

Ed pulled her into his lap while she selected a chick flick. Kelly turned the volume down low, loud enough they could hear but not so loud that it’d distract them.

“Kermit the frog,” Ed said without preamble.

“What?”

“That’s the mark you left on me. Well, one of them.” He smiled, running his hand up and down the length of her arm. “You showed me the Muppets, remember?”

“I remember.” Kelly pressed the tip of her nose into the crook of Ed’s neck. “Had a lot of misses before that.”

“I know. I still think I should be insulted you thought I’d like Roadrunner.”

Kelly laughed, dropping a quick kiss on Ed’s neck before nuzzling into it again. “I still think you should give it a second chance.”

Ed hummed his disapproval, but didn’t further the argument.

“You did a lot more for me than just the eye thing and… the other thing,” Kelly said after a minute of silence. “And I’m sorry that I’m the reason that you can’t eat blue raspberry flavored candies.”

“It’s a small price to pay.” Ed combed his fingers through Kelly’s hair absently. “I’m glad I have you back, Kel. Trying to figure out who I was without someone who shaped me that much… kind of sucked.”

“Thank you for taking me back.” Ed could barely hear her over the white noise of the television.

“I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” Ed kissed her temple softly. “You make me better, Kelly. That’s all I need to know.”

She rearranged herself so she was straddling his lap, face hovering inches above his. “I love you.”

Ed’s hands settled on her hips, steadying her. “I love you too.”

Kelly leaned down for a kiss, and that was the end of their talking for the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Scars by James Bay, which is both the song that played at the end of 2x11 and one of my favorite songs.
> 
> Sorry if this was a little rough - I wrote it immediately following the episode with minimal editing, because some things just demand to be written. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


End file.
